With respect, I've heard the whole "goes in cycles" thing before and I'm not sure that's what this is. These forums have been in decline for well over 2 years now with no real sign of picking up. Heck, there are sub forums on here that haven't been posted in for 2-3 years (like the Pressure point forum).

Other MA site forums at the moment are positively thriving.

I can't tell you why that is happening, but I think there is more to it than being cyclical. I think one reason is that there are lot more specialist forums now online than before. Really good forums dealing with specific arts. So say a person is only interested in Aikido, Chinese Internal Arts or BJJ, there are really good forums for these subjects.

So I guess part of the reason for the decline on FA forums is increased competition from other MA forums.

When I first came onboard, instructions encouraged me to observe for a while and if what I wanted to know was something specific that had previously been chewed to death, I could look it up in . . . . .

And other sites might well be doing a lot of traffic--right now. That might change over time.My guess is that in 5 years time the sites currently jumping will look very much like FA.

Maybe we got too nice.

Sites that offer a strong exchange of views seem to do well in terms of hits/views. Might be we got a little to civilized.

Also possible that over a 10 year span people that used to practice have stopped. 10 years is a long time.

You might have really hit the nail on the head with the "style specific" point. Back when the site opened few if any styles were heavily represented on-line. Now days EVERYBODY seems to have a school-specific site. So maybe there is less perceived need for FA.

What can we do to help bring the site back?

Edited by cxt (06/03/1302:08 PM)

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I did battle with ignorance today.......and ignorance won.
Huey.